65 replies to this topic

[warnergt]

I have a Sears Kenmore Elite side by side refrigerator (106.54202300). It is about one year old. I just noticed that the refrigerator door sits lower than the freezer door. An inspection reveals that the bottom mount on the door appears to be pushed up into the door. The plastic trim on the bottom of the door is cracked where this bottom plate (which connects to the hinge) pushed through it.

Do I need a whole new door? I can't help wondering if this was damage done during shipping or installation by Sears. I just don't know. The door is designed to hold gallon jugs and we don't even use it for that. That is, I don't believe
that we are putting more weight on the door than it was designed for.

What should I do?

[warnergt]

I just priced a new door on sears.com.
L2255525W (2255525W) $525.49.

Dandy. I paid $1550 for it 14 months ago.

[Jedi Appliance Guy]

Could just be a door cam or thimble.  Are you able to post a picture for us?

[warnergt]

Here is a picture of the bad door.


Here is a picture of the good door.

[warnergt]

A bigger look at the bad door.

[Jedi Appliance Guy]

Nice pictures.

   May be more serious that I originally thought.  Has the right side of the metal door stop gone up inside the fresh food door?

[Budget Appliance Repair]

No, Jedi, He most deffinitely has some major door problem - Not just the cam.

Look at the picture, see that crack up the side? and only half the cam visible, the other half is up inside the door now.

If this was a Whirlpool branded product instead of a Whirlpool with the Kenmore name, Whirlpool would probably take care of that for you no charge but since you have to deal with Sears, GOOD LUCK. (I would be doing some major bitching to them if I where you, this shouldn't have broken like this unless you have an ape or very large kids swinging from the door)

If you end up fixing it, DON'T buy the part from Sears, save yourself about a $100.00 and order from RepairClinic CLICK HERE

[Mad Mac]

When these first came out, we were getting complaints about the doors being "uneven" (one higher than the other). What we were told was that there was a spring inside the refrigerator door which would adjust depending on the weight being stored in it. This looks like something may have gone seriously wrong in there - one of the drawbacks of "FIP" doors is the inability to deal with the actual problem other than by total replacement.

As an ex-Sears tech, I'd endorse Willie's advice - bitch early and bitch often;) You should be able to get them to make some kind of concession, probably they'll eat the cost of the part if you pay a labour charge (about $150).

[warnergt]

Here are some pictures of the damage. You can see that
where the bottom plastic pushed in, there is only foam
inside the door. The bottom plastic panel only hold
the metal door up at the edges. And the hinge plate
presses right in the middle of the plastic panel.
It's not a great design.

[warnergt]

Here is my solution. It is not elegant but it works and
saves me the cost of a new door. I figured that the
problem was that the pressure was not distributed well.
So, I fabricated a plate to distribute the pressure.

It's a Rube Goldberg design but it works, nobody sees
it and it saved me a lot of money.

[Samurai Appliance Repair Man]

Wow, great pics, and even better repair!  Nice job! 

And thanks for posting that.  This thread is definitely one of the selected threads for anyone else's benefit.  I'm sure this will be an emerging issue on this refrigerator.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

Excellent repair job guy!!!!!!!

Is that door bottom just made out of plastic????
Are Whirlpool products be designed like crap now too?

[warnergt]

Yes, the door bottom is merely plastic. In the picture
with the cam and hinge plate removed, you can see that
beyond the plastic bottom is just insulating foam.
From what I can see, the plastic bottom only really
supports the door where the door metal sides meet the
plastic base at the edges. But, and here's the problem,
the plastic bottom is supported in its middle by the hinge
plate. This puts a lot of shear stress on the plastic
bottom.

On this refrigerator model, the door is designed to
hold four gallon-size milk jugs. I think this would
be roughly 32 pounds. Plus, there are two more
shelves. The door should be able to hold a good
bit of weight but that doesn't appear to be the case.

This ability to stowe milk jugs on the door was a selling
point when we purchased the refrigerator. Ironically,
we don't actually put milk jugs on our door but I'm
sure that other consumers do.

I'm still trying to think of ways this could have been
an installation problem. I don't think that is likely.
I could imagine an inept installer lifting up on the
door but I don't see any way why/how he would put
excessive downward force on the door. Plus, we never
noticed the door was lower than the other until very
recently. I have to believe this is a design
deficiency. Hopefully, my experience and quick fix
will help others as their refrigerators experience the
same problem.

The fabricated plate does make the door sit a wee bit
high but it is barely noticeable. I'm no machinist;
I'm sure others could fabricate a nicer plate than
mine. I made my plate by taking a piece of angle iron
(left over from my garage door installation), hammering
it flat and cutting it to fit with a hacksaw. I used
a drill to create holes where the screws go.

[Budget Appliance Repair]

Still got to commend you on a job well done, doesn't look bad at all and probably any of use "Master Appliantologist" wouldn't have done it much differently if we where to try and save the door and not just sell a new expensive door.

[Mad Mac]

My suggestion (as an ex-Sears Tech) is to raise holy hell  . I'd even print this out to show that you're not the only person with this issue.

[mopar X]

could this whirlpool tech sheet have anything to do with the doors collapsing?

Attached Files

•  UD13_RP002.pdf   24.32K   44 downloads

[The Seven]

It seems that the Whirlpool tech sheet applies to botom-mounted fridge but not to side by side fridge.

[mopar X]

Might be missing this support or something like it in the side x side also. Seems like something to help stiffen door is not installed got to believe whirlpool wouldn't build a weak door like this on purpose